


Two for Joy

by MrProphet



Category: Bagpuss
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 03:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10689057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet





	Two for Joy

_“Once upon a time  
Not so long ago  
There was a little girl and her name was Emily  
And she had a shop._

_“It was rather an unusual shop because it didn't sell anything  
You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost  
And Emily had found  
And brought home to Bagpuss  
Emily's cat Bagpuss  
The most Important  
The most Beautiful  
The most Magical  
Saggy old cloth cat in the whole wide world._

_“Well now, one day Emily found a thing  
And she brought it back to the shop  
And put it down in front of Bagpuss  
Who was in the shop window fast asleep as usual  
But then Emily said some magic words:_

_“‘Bagpuss, dear Bagpuss  
Old fat furry cat-puss  
Wake up and look at this thing that I bring  
Wake up, be bright  
Be golden and light  
Bagpuss, Oh hear what I sing.’  
“And Bagpuss was wide awake  
And when Bagpuss wakes up all his friends wake up too  
The mice on the mouse-organ woke up and stretched  
Madeleine, the rag doll  
Gabriel, the toad  
And last of all, Professor Yaffle, who was a very distinguished old woodpecker  
He climbed down off his bookend and went to see what it was that Emily had brought.”_

“It's a brooch,” Professor Yaffle noted. “A very old, very dirty brooch. You can still see the pin on the back, but the front is so blackened and filthy that there is no way to make out what it used to show.”

“We will fix it!” the mice said. “We will fix it!”

Charlie Mouse climbed onto one of the shelves and rummaged in a box. “We will fix it with wire wool.”

“No, no!” Madeleine cried. “Not wire wool! That is a delicate piece of work and wire wool will scratch the surface. You must clean it with baking soda in water, and a soft cotton bud. You'll find them in the box on the second shelf, but be careful; make sure you don't fall.”

Cautiously, Charlie Mouse climbed to the second shelf and passed down a tub of baking soda and a packet of cotton buds. Janey Mouse and Willie Mouse went to the the tap and fetched a small glass of water. When they spooned baking soda into the water it fizzed and they cried out in delight.

As the bubbles settled, the mice dipped cotton buds into the water and began to rub away the accumulated dirt on the brooch. As they worked, they sang in a round:

“We will rub it, we'll not scrub it,  
We will handle it soft as mice.  
We will clean it, so we can glean it,  
Ever so careful and nice, nice, nice.”

And as the mice worked, the grime flaked and rubbed away to reveal the design of the brooch; two black-and-white birds, circling one another.

“Ah, two magpies,” Professor Yaffle said.

“Joy! Joy!” the mice cried, dancing around one another.

“Joy?” Bagpuss asked. “What are you so happy about?”

“No, no,” Gabriel chuckled. “It's an old song. I'm sure the mice have a roll of organ music for it. Have a look in the mouse organ.”

Excitedly the mice ran to the Mouse Organ and hoisted up the musical roll. When they were ready, Jenny Mouse stood atop the organ and announced: “The marvellous, mechanical, Mouse Organ!”

The mice began to pump the bellows, Gabriel began to play his banjo and Madeleine began to sing: 

“One for sorrow, Two for joy.  
Three for a girl and four for a boy.  
Five for silver, six for gold.  
Seven for a secret never to be told.  
Eight for Heaven and nine for Hell,  
And Ten for the very Devil his ane sel'.”

And as Madeleine sang, the music changed and the mice danced; first each alone to a sad melody, then in pairs, dancing faster and faster, before at last retreating to the shadow of the shelves and shivering a little in fear.

“Nyhe, nyeh, nyeh,” Professor Yaffle tutted. “You mustn't be frightened of a harmless old rhyme,” he said. “Besides, there are only two magpies here, and that means joy, as you said.

“Now, the brooch needs a little more work, do you see?” he asked. “The metal is bent. You must unbend it very carefully by pushing down on both ends with just the right amount of force.”

“We will mend it!” The mice scurried over and pushed on the ends. 

“Heave!” they chanted together. “Heave!” And slowly the metal was pushed flat again.

“There now,” Professor Yaffle said. “As good as new. I wonder how it got bent in the first place.”

“Perhaps it fell out of a nest?” Gabriel suggested.

“Nyeh, nyeh, nyeh,” Yaffle scoffed. “They're not real birds; brooches aren't born in nests.”

“No,” the toad agreed. “But they can end up there. Bagpuss; I think you know a story about that.”

“Hmm?” Bagpuss looked up. “Oh, yes,” he said. “Yes, I do. But I'll need a thinking cap; something with a feather in it.”

Quickly, the mice scrambled up into the shelves and passed down a hat with a beautiful, glossy black feather in the band. They settled it on his head and Bagpuss settled to think. And as he thought, his thoughts appeared above his head for all to see.

“Once, long ago, there was a girl named Ninette,” he began. “She worked as a maid in a big house. It was hard work, but it was a happy life for her until the day that a spoon was stolen from the kitchen.

“The cook was in a rage, for it was one of the best spoons that the family ate with on Sundays and it was made of silver and worth quite a lot of money. Ninette helped the cook to search for the spoon, but when it could not be found the cook became afraid that she would be accused of stealing the spoon. To stop this happening, she accused Ninette.

“Ninette's room was searched, and although they did not find the spoon they arrested her and questioned her, threatening terrible punishments if she didn't hand over the spoon. Poor Ninette could only say, over and over again, that she had not stolen the spoon.

“At last, the master ordered her to be thrown out of the house. She walked away from the house with tears in her eyes. As she approached the gate, she saw a magpie fly across the path.

“'One for sorrow,' she thought, watching the magpie fly up to a nest where another magpie was waiting. As it landed, the second magpie shuffled over and something glittering was pushed from the nest.

“Ninette cried out in amazement. 'Two for joy!' she laughed and she ran to pick up the fallen spoon. Amazed and jubilant, she ran back to the house, showing everyone the spoon and telling them the story of the thieving magpie.”

“Hooray!” the mice cried, clapping for the end of the story.

“And here are two magpies, for joy,” Professor Yaffle agreed. “Come now, mice; put the brooch in the window.”

And so the mice pushed the brooch into the window, in case a passing girl, or a magpie, should see it and come in to collect it.

_“Bagpuss gave a big yawn, and settled down to sleep  
And of course when Bagpuss goes to sleep, all his friends go to sleep too  
The mice were ornaments on the mouse-organ  
Gabriel and Madeleine were just dolls  
And Professor Yaffle was a carved wooden bookend in the shape of a woodpecker  
Even Bagpuss himself once he was asleep was just an old, saggy cloth cat  
Baggy, and a bit loose at the seams  
But Emily loved him.”_


End file.
